215. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether his Department's internal protected disclosures policy and procedures are published on its website; if not, the reason; whether the statutory guidance encourages public bodies to publish their internal procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [75267/26]
Parliamentary questions
Questions
TDs ask ministers questions to get answers on the record, most of them in writing. Here is every one asked in the 34th Dáil, by the department it went to and the subject heading it was filed under. How questions work
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Showing questions asked by Ken O'Flynn under the heading Protected Disclosures.
38 questions match, newest first.
216. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the arrangements in place where a report made or transmitted to his Department under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, as amended, concerns his Department's own functions under that Act, including the statutory guidance issued by him; whether a conflict of interest assessment is carried out on…
217. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether he will bring forward amendments to the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 to prohibit the transmission of a report, or of information capable of identifying the reporting person, to the organisation or persons the report concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [75265/26]
708. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of reports received by him and the Minister of State at his Department under section 8 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 in each of the years 2023 to 2025 and to date in 2026; the number transmitted to the Protected Disclosures Commissioner within the ten day period required by section 8(3)(a) of the Act; the number tran…
710. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average time taken by An Garda Síochána to close a protected disclosure in each of the years 2021 to 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of protected disclosures closed in each of those years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [74345/26]
714. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of protected disclosures made to An Garda Síochána that, as of 1 October 2026, have remained open for more than one year, more than two years and more than three years, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [74344/26]
237. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether his Department has received representations since January 2025 regarding the meaning of "prima facie evidence" at initial assessment under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014; whether the Department intends to issue clarifying guidance to public bodies and prescribed persons ahead of the …
238. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether the Department collects data on the duration of initial assessments of protected disclosures by public bodies; the number of reports recorded as remaining at initial assessment at the end of each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, as reported under section 22 of the Protected Disclosures …
574. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of protected disclosures within An Garda Síochána that remained at initial assessment stage at the end of each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025; and the longest period any such disclosure has remained at that stage. [72322/26]
334. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will review the adequacy of the safeguards under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 against penalisation, and against the disclosure of a discloser's identity without consent, in view of concerns raised publicly in recent weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68089/26]
331. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 3747 of 7 September 2026, the number of protected disclosure allegations upheld or partially upheld during 2025 in respect of which the assigned corrective actions have been completed; the number in respect of which corrective actions remain outstanding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66095/26]
332. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 3744 of 7 September 2026, in respect of the 30 valid protected disclosures received in 2025 that remained open as at 30 June 2026, the date of receipt of the oldest such case still open; the number of these cases that have been open for more than 26 weeks; the number that have been open for more than 52 weeks; and if she will …
333. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 3723 of 7 September 2026, in which the HSE confirmed it does not centrally track the implementation of recommendations arising from protected disclosures, the number of recommendations arising from upheld or partially upheld protected disclosures between 2023 and the first quarter of 2025 that have been verified as implemented…
334. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 3743 of 7 September 2026, whether the HSE senior leadership team received a specific escalation regarding the increase in alleged health and safety endangerment, as recommended by the Audit and Risk Committee, as distinct from routine quarterly dashboard reporting; the date on which any such escalation occurred; the decision o…
887. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if the provisions introduced by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022, which amended the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, can be applied or implemented retrospectively in respect of protected disclosures made before the commencement of the 2022 Act; and if he will make a statement on the…
390. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health in cases in which correspondence addressed to the Minister is considered capable of constituting a protected disclosure, but the Department states that the material was not viewed prior to its transmission to the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, the person or body responsible for determining that the correspondence should be treated as a potential…
379. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the specific actions that were taken to implement the recommendations arising from an investigation (details supplied) into protected disclosures concerning dysfunctional reporting systems; and the audit or verification that has been carried out to confirm their effectiveness in practice. [23472/26]
415. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether the reversal of the burden of proof provided for under the protected disclosures legislation applies only during formal adjudicative proceedings before bodies such as the Workplace Relations Commission and the courts, or whether it also applies during the administrative handling and inve…
416. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether any guidance has been issued to public bodies advising that the evidential presumption relating to retaliation under the protected disclosures legislation should be applied when assessing disclosures internally; and if no such guidance has issued, whether the Government has considered wh…
417. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether the Government has assessed whether administrative decisions taken without applying the evidential presumption provided for in the protected disclosures legislation may expose the State to avoidable litigation risk where those decisions are later challenged in proceedings before the Work…
418. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if the Government has considered the interaction between the evidential presumption in whistleblower legislation and the Government’s State Litigation Principles, particularly the requirement that State bodies seek to avoid unnecessary litigation and protect public funds. [22390/26]
419. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether the Government has reviewed whether the current interpretation of the burden-of-proof provisions in Irish whistleblower legislation fully reflects the objectives of Directive (EU) 2019/1937, particularly in ensuring effective protection against retaliation. [22391/26]
420. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether any written guidance, circulars, or instructions have been issued to Departments, agencies, or prescribed persons regarding the application of the evidential presumption provided for under the protected disclosures legislation when assessing alleged retaliation during the administrative …
243. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the number of times the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner has exercised its powers under section 10 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (as amended) since its establishment; and if those powers have not been exercised, the reasons for this. [20966/26]
245. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether the statutory functions of the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (as amended) are considered to be fully discharged once a disclosure has been transmitted to a prescribed person or public body; and whether the commissioner has any o…